Empty desks clutter in a dark classroom, awaiting the arrival of a student who will never come.
Starting from the elementary level, in-person district enrollment is decreasing. One reason for the decrease in district enrollment is the increase in online enrollment.
“Whether they went through like our online school or one of the other ones, a lot have moved online,” math teacher Sammi Cosby said.
Whether the ease of accessibility, social interaction or workload, for some, online schooling has attractive qualities.
“I think online opportunities are appealing to students who aren’t necessarily excited about being required to be in a building from eight to three every single day,” Childers said.
Decreasing enrollment directly affects the classroom.
“Last semester, I had classes hovering around 20 students, and this semester it’s more like 12,” Childers said.
There are several possibilities for why enrollment is dropping. One concern stems from Augusta itself.
“There’s really very little room for us to grow as far as housing opportunities,” English teacher Megan Springs said. “If we were able to find a better way to increase our population, that could help.”
The bond may serve to remedy this concern.
“I think that the bond is really going to help us to be more competitive by offering different facilities that are a little more high-tech and functional,” Springs said.
The bond inspires hope in teachers like Childers.
“I think the bond might be able to get students, not even from within our district, but outside of our district, interested in coming to Augusta,” Childers said.
Even deeper than a smaller class size, the district enrollment drop affects everyone in the classroom.
“In a small class, you can interact with students a lot more,” Cosby said. “There’s a lot more one-on-one.”
Small class sizes bring students and teachers together.
“We can get really comfortable and be silly in front of each other,” Springs said. “We just have a more casual relationship.”
